OUR SYDNEY LETTER

Evening Star, Issue 14307, 4 March 1910, Page 8

OUR SYDNEY LETTER

THE ELECTIONS. There is a good deal of human nature in man. Consequently considerations affecting human motive.' are of übiquitous and perennial interest, especially when the deeps are stirred by political crisis or national danger. Wo have an election to negotiate. Tho Mother Country and South Africa have- jiwt passed through theirs. The circumstances in each ease differ, yol the operating principles are vorv similar. We have not the double racial difficulty that besots South Africa, tho difficulty of reconciling tho claims first of while and black"' and then those of Afrikander and Briton. Neither have we a. hereditary aristocracy to, curb, as in the Mother Country. Tho Fiscal Question, too, has been laid to rest with us—knocked on tho head, so to speak, by the formidable, menace of the domination of a tyrannical and ill-informed oligarchy of walking delegates and union agitators. Still, wo are .ill alike in this : that wo aro engaged in a lifo-and-death struggle, endeavoring to preservo the principles of true democracy, which safeguard tho interests of tho individual against the mass, ;is woll as those of the. mass against the individual. This is the crisis that confronts us at our o'.octions. Are we to have reasoned law and loyal obedience to it, or are we to have mob law, with its. violence, its confiscations, its contempt of the rights of individuals, and its ruthless determination to trample under foot tho energy, initiative, and practical wisdom which constitute the true strength of the nation? This is the issue a.s it presents itself to many, but it is difficult to stato it with adequate clearness and force. SOUTH CLIFTON. Perhaps tho best illustrations are those taken from actual fact. Tho miners at South Clifton have just back to work after five months of self-enforced idleness, it was about no question of waga* or hours that they struck, but because two of their number were courageous enough to defy a mandate of tho union—a_ mandate which in itself ran counter to industrial law, and which even from the point of view of unionist pretension, and aggression was more than questionable. The men were employed at pillar work in the colliery. They were called out by tho union.' They maintained that the union had no righi to issue the order, and when they were fined for disohedionco they refused to pay. The union then sought to have the men dismissed from the mine. The proprietors, to their credit, refused. Tho unionists then "downed tools" and refusal to -work with the men. For five months they have had the tangible support of other unions and the tacit sympathy of tho political Labor party. They have' tried to make the fives of tho two men intolerable by petty persecutions. But their victims have hold their ground, and now they havo all gone back togother. CALLOUS BRUTALITY.

The worst feature, and one which shows tho teindeney of eonsoieiieelcfs combination to crush otit the finer feelings, of which miners are no moro destitute- than other men, is that no appreciation has been shown of the courage of these, men in refusing to be. bull-dozed by numbers. Unionism, as interpreted at South Clifton and in many other places, has no room for the self-respecting man who desires to livo according to his own principles'. He must display an abject submission to the union, which means to the little knot of demagogues who control its affairs, or else his life, will be made a misery to him. This is tho prim-ink' which has been adopted, though with more regard to appearances, hv the shackled parliamonatry caucus. This is tho party which claims to bo entrusted with tho'destinies of the country. UKLIGIOUS. Whether religion is exercising greater influence than formerly among us he would be a rash man who would attempt to decide ; but certainly religious topics are occupying great prominence. "The Cardinal and the Minister" is a standing heading in the dailies. The appointment of a rector at St. James's is nearly as prolific in correspondence. The election of the Primate is still undecided. The .Methodist Conference has also been in session, and has added its quota to the stream of interest. The retiring president (the Bev. Jos. Beaie) spoke of the necessity of clergymen interesting themselves in social and economic matters. He referred to ihe distress of the poor and the evils of slum life, and declared that so long as these things exist they point to something wiong, which something ought to bo removable and removed. Needless to say, his remarks were hailed with delight by revolutionary agitators, each of whom believes that he has in his own pocket" a panacea for the world's woes. 1 don't think that this is what Mr Beale intended. He belongs* to a Church which preaches_ a present salvation for all who will accept it. That, of couise, is incompatible_with a salvation which must be deferred til! there has been a reconstruction of society on lines not ye; agreed upon.

THK GULDEN RULK. j One paper of .Socialistic leanings went so fur as to assert that it is impossible for men to keep the Golden Rule so long as the responsibility of earning their own living—in other words, of making their services valuable—is laid upon them. Undoubtedly the Golden Rule was held to be binding ivlisn it was promulgated, and there is no record of its operation having been sus-

pended since. .Moreover, the. paper in question allinns every day in bold type: "To day is the best day the world lia6 ever seen." If, therefore,"the Golden Rule cannot be kept to-day, it has been a dead letter all along. Yet many, and probably a greater proportion of the poor than of the rich, know well that it is nothing of tho kind. It is a "Golden" rule, most of us believe, because it can be kept in all conditions of lif«, whether distressful or prosperous, preserving from despondency in the one case and from " cock-a-whoop'' elation in the other. Still, the question ar, to how much of the distress of the world tan be removed by the action of the suffeier. and how much by society acting collectively, is one which demands more attention than it has yet received. There are those who would" make squalid and repul-

>ive surroundings wherever they were put, unless they turn over a new leaf. THE SALEYARDS. Stockowucr.s, small unci large, feel some relief at the assurance recently given by the Premier that the question of the location of the saleyards in connection with the new abattoirs is still open. This means that the (Jovernment have not, as was feared, handed over the pastoral interests of the State to the City Council. That body now seems as desirous of meeting the views of consignors and salesmen as it was formerly deaf to their representations. No one wishes to see city money wasted in a futile effort to keep a business which seems destined to find other channels, and the consideration of distance seems an insuperable obstacle to the- retention of the sales in their present, habitat. THE-FLOCKS-Slowly and laboriously tho State is adding to the number of the sheep. The importance' to general prosperity of the golden lleeco ('in hardly bo over-estimated. It is because- wool is' '"up" and selling freely 'Jiat wo have been' able to tide over tho strike with 6V.ch small outward and visible sign ol commercial and financial embarrassment. At the end of last year

the number of sheep in the State was 43 million, being increase of million as compared with tho previous year. In 1891 there were no less than 62 million sheep in New South Wales. But then came "big fellow" drought, year after year, till in IQO3 tho number dropped to 29 million. 'J ho ' figures graphically show tho vicissitudes of pastoral enterprise, in a. country which is perhaps better adapted for it than any other on the face of the earth. Id must ho remembered, however, that the average sheep to-day, owing to improvements in breeding, probably yields half as much wool again as his forerunners of twenty years ago. A BLACKLEG. Curious cases continue to crop up in tho Industrial Court. Probably we won't be hero to see, but in future years these will servo as a staple for the current burlesque or graver satire. In ono case, by an award, tho employment of improvers had

been pvoliihited, in order that tradesmen, cepeciaUy union tradesmen, might havo n, monopoly. It then became an illegal act for an improver to earn his living. One did venture, to work, and he was promptly proceeded against by the union secretary, and lined. A. law' which makes it an offence to work, but 110 offence to loaf, is truly a marvel in jurisprudence. In another case .1 man accepted less than the rate of wage fixed by tho award. In palliation of the heinous offence ho pleaded that otherwise he would have had to leave his wife and children to starve. " Are men prepared to'make no sacrifice for their manhood?" the Judge indignantly asked, Tn this case, by the way, it was womanhood and childhood for which tho sacrifice was made., But the Judge expatiated on tho enormity of " blacklegging," and gaye tho poor fellow a very bad time of it. Wo are certainly creating new and arbitrary offences astimo goes on, and closing our "eyes iho while to tho enormity of real offences. And all this oppression and injustice .is sanctioned in order to placate, men who declare that their sole desire is to establish fnirnese and equity! WAGES BOARDS. Wage*! boards havo been systematically denounced by wide-mouthed and voluble orators as the creation and cunning device of capitalistic employers who wished to deprive tho poor working man of his due. But. the p.w.m. seems to bo on a very good wicket. Bv tho instrumentality of wages boards no l'ess than £IOO,OOO annually has been added to the wages of the railway and tramway employees. In numbers of other trades similar increases have been ordered. No one dreams of asking where tho money- is to come. from. If wages were douoled and working hours reduced by one-half, it is assumed quite calmly that, the money would be forthcoming, lint, would it? We shall see. February 25.